Extended Disruptions Will Hurt EU Recovery

Airlines Lobby Governments to Lift Flying Bans as Some Take Experimental Flights to Test Effects of Volcanic Ash on Jets

By

Daniel Michaels in New York,

Steve McGrath in London and

Doug Cameron in Chicago

Updated April 18, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

The extended closure of European airspace because of a cloud of volcanic ash threatens to snuff out the region's feeble economic recovery and has prompted airlines to take unusual measures in an effort to regain some control of the situation.

As aviation authorities prolonged the ban on flights into Monday, bringing the number of canceled flights to more than 63,000, hard-hit European airlines conducted test flights over the weekend to assess the safety of operating through ash and dust spewing out of an Icelandic volcano...